A 55-year-old man from Cottonwood was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor multiple times after using the Snapchat location feature to find her, officials said.

The man, Richard Edwards, is accused of contacting the girl, a Prescott resident who is younger than 15, on Snapchat and making sexual statements, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dwight D’Evelyn said.

The Sheriff's Office did not specify when that contact began, other than to say it was earlier this year.

When no other family was home, Edwards showed up unannounced at the girl's house and grabbed her, forcing her into a bedroom and sexually assaulting her, D’Evelyn said.

After assaulting her, he threatened to kill her if she talked, D’Evelyn said.

Edwards was initially able to find the girl using the Snapchat location sharing feature, D’Evelyn said. In the following weeks, Edwards was able to find the girl and continue molesting her at other locations, D’Evelyn said.

The girl told authorities she was afraid of the man, but eventually told a family member and the Sheriff's Office became involved Monday, D’Evelyn said.

On Tuesday, detectives found Edwards at his Cottonwood home and arrested him. He was booked on charges of sexual assault, sexual conduct with a minor, sexual abuse, luring a minor for sexual exploitation and threatening, officials said.

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